1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method of release etching a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) or nano-electromechanical system (NEMS) contained in a cavity.
2. Description of the Related Art
The key part of any MEMS or NEMS fabrication process is the release of the structure from the surrounding sacrificial material to thereby enable motion of the structure within the cavity. The step of the sacrificial material removal is also called sacrificial etching or release etching. The sacrificial etching or releasing etching is critical from a technological and economical point of view.
On the technical side, the device may easily break during the sacrificial etching or release etching. On the economical side, the release etch step is often the longest step in the manufacturing process with release etching time lasting up to a few hours per wafer. The long etching time results in a low throughput rate and is very likely to hurt the cost per unit if the cost of ownership of the release equipment is high or if additional capital expenditures are required.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method of release etching a MEMS or NEMS contained within a cavity and for a stable device manufactured using such a method.